An affliction peculiarly lamented throughout the East, Genesis 16:1 30:1-23 1 Samuel 1:6,19 Isaiah 47:9 49:21 Luke 1:25 , especially by the Jewish women, who remembered the promised Messiah, Genesis 3:15 , and hoped for the honor of his parentage. The strength of this feeling is evinced by the extraordinary and often unjustifiable measures it led them to adopt, Genesis 16:2 19:31 38:14 Deuteronomy 25:5-10 . Professed Christians are charged with barrenness, if they are destitute of the fruits of the Spirit, and do not abound in good works, Luke 13:6-9 2 Peter 1:8 .